A typical switched reluctance motor comprises a plurality of stator phase coils fixedly mounted in a motor housing and a rotatably mounted rotor with plurality of soft magnetic poles, i.e., typically formed from a material with ferromagnetic properties in a lamina stack. In a known single phase operation, the stator phase coils are individually energized, creating magnetic fields that act on the soft magnetic poles of the rotor in the form of rotational torque that causes the rotor to rotate. Rotor position feedback is typically used to determine when the rotor is positioned such that it is desirable to de-energize the currently energized phase coil and energize the next phase coil. Solid state switching devices are typically used to control energization and de-energization of the coils and an electronic motor controller is typically used to control gating of the solid state switching devices.
In a known switched reluctance motor control, the solid state switching devices are gated in a manner such that the degree of phase advance of the stator coils increases with higher rotational velocities of the motor rotor.